The Winner of The Best HR City is...

We had a great time on the HR Happy Hour show tonight, with 'The Best HR City' show.

After taking a record number of calls, hearing some impassioned support for their cities, and overcoming a few more caller debacles (WE CAN HEAR YOU), the decision was reached.



The Best HR City is.........

CINCINNATI

Yes, the long time supporter of the HR Happy Hour Show and hotbed of HR and Recruiting awesomeness has won this prestigious honor.

As promised, Shauna and I will be taking the HR Happy Hour show on the road, (and getting free pizza), sometime in 2010.

Congrats to the 513 and also to the first runner-up Minneapolis and second runner-up Portland. In the event that Cincinnati can't fulfill their duties as 'Best HR City' then Minny - you are up.

Thanks everyone who called in to the show (we had the most calls ever) and to all the Tweets and comments.

The 513 Rocks!



Who has 'The Best HR City?'

We have had quite a bit of fun over the last few weeks taking some shots at various cities, (well, mostly about the 513) and we have speculated about what city really does have the best HR and Recruiting talent and is doing the most interesting and innovative things.

But what does it even mean to be 'The Best HR City?' And where do we get off on the HR Happy Hour show declaring the winner?

Well, it was our idea, and if the Recruiting Animal can award the Ammys, I say we can determine The Best HR City.

So on Episode 26 of the HR Happy Hour, Thursday January 14 - 8PM EST we will hold 'The Best HR City' show.

Flickr - boilermakerWes

What are the criteria for the designation? (these are completely under our discretion and subject to change, even during the show itself).

1. The number of talented HR and Recruiting pros that live in the city now. And that means now, you can't claim people who used to live in your city, went to college there, or stopped in the Waffle House once on the way to somewhere else (Birmingham, this one is directed at you).

2. Examples of some companies, large or small, doing some interesting and innovative things in the HR, Recruiting, and Talent Management space. And honestly, the way things have been going the last two years these may be hard to find. The city that can claim the least amount of mass layoffs will probably win this category. Since government jobs still seem like they will be plentiful for, well forever, Washington DC has a major advantage here.

3. How well your city has represented on the previous shows, and if you show up this week. And I am not just talking about volume of calls (although that helps). No, your city has to bring something to the mix beyond, 'Portland rules!'. And speaking of Portland, you were once the runaway leader in this category, but have since kind of disappeared from the radar.  If it weren't for some abominations from the 513, they would have this one sewn up already.

4. Number of active bloggers, tweeters, big time LinkedIn or other online dominators. Some cities definitely can claim pretty high numbers of active participants in the 'Digital HR' space. That will carry some weight in the final determination.

5. Conferences, events, tweetups, random meetings with strangers where you talk about HR or Recruiting. More weight will be given to the smaller and more 'organic' kinds of events. San Diego does not get any credit for simply 'being San Diego' with perfect weather all year thus becoming a place everyone wants to visit. Same for New Orleans (except for the weather part).

So that is what I have so far for the criteria. What do you think? Anything else need to be added?

And how about the voting? Just myself and Shauna unilaterally declaring a winner?

Or should we develop a short list of cities to consider during the show and post an online poll and put it to an audience vote?

Let us know - only a few days to stand up for your city!







January 2010 on the HR Happy Hour

A new year and a new set of HR Happy Hour shows!

All shows are at 8pm EST and the show page is here.

Please join Shauna and Steve this month for what should be a fun and interesting batch of episodes.

January 7 - 'The HR Calendar' - What are the big, must attend conferences and events in 2010?  Where should the HR and Recruiting pro invest their time and money this year?  We will talk conferences with some of the big players in the space, Jason Davis from RecruitingBlogs.com,  David Manaster from ERE, and Bill Boorman from truconferences. Additionally, Laurie Ruettimann from punkRockHR and thehrcalendar.com will join us to talk about the year ahead.

January 14 - 'The Best HR City' - This show is a challenge to our fans and listeners.  Think your city has the best HR and Recruiting talent?  Are organizations in your backyard doing some innovative work in HR and Talent Management?  This is your chance to represent.  Portland? Cincinnati? DC? Birmingham? Canada? Yes I know Canada is not really a city, but we have to make it fair.  We will decide via a audience poll who has the 'Best HR City'

January 21 - 'trulondon - A Preview' - The legendary Bill Boorman has done it again, and the trulondon event in February 2010 is 'tru'-ly going to be amazing.  Bill and several session leaders will join us to talk about the event and (hopefully) convince a few more folks to hop across the pond.

January 28 - 'HR and Culture' - The author of 'Chief Culture Officer', Grant McCracken joins us for what should be a fascinating discussion on how an understanding of external culture is an essential competency for the modern corporation, and the important role that HR can play in this regard.

That is the lineup for January, I hope you will join us!